1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lever type connector which is coupled and detached by a lever and the like.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
There is a known lever type or bolt type connector. The connector has an advantage that it can be coupled and detached by a small force and can be applied to a multipole (i.e. more than twenty terminals) connector. For example, a basic construction of a lever type connector is known in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 4-62772 (1992).
For convenience of explanation, a prior lever type connector will be explained below by referring to FIGS. 11 and 12.
FIGS. 11A to lid are schematic side elevation views of a prior lever type connector, illustrating a principle of the connector. FIG. 12 is a schematic longitudinal cross sectional view of the prior lever type connector, illustrating a problem in the prior connector.
As shown in FIG. 11A, the prior lever type connector comprises a male connector housing 1 in which a number of male terminals are mounted and a female connector housing 2 in which a number of female terminals adapted to receive the male terminals are mounted. A lever 3 provided with a cam groove 3a which effects a "lever action" is rotatably attached to the male connector housing 1. A cover 4 to be put on the female connector housing 2 is provided with engaging projection 4a at opposing center lower side walls.
In order to couple the connector housings 1 and 2 to each other, as shown in FIG. 11B, the engaging projection 4a on the cover 4 is engaged with the cam groove 3a in the lever 3 and then the lever 3 is turned to an anticlockwise direction shown by an arrow C. The cover 4 and female connector housing 2 are inserted into the male connector housing 1 by a cam action of the cam groove 3a. When the lever 3 is further turned to the anticlockwise direction c from a position shown in FIG. 11C to a position shown in FIG. 11D, the terminals in the connector housings 1 and 2 are interconnected against a mechanical insertion resistance, thereby finishing the coupling of the connectors.
In order to displace the lever type connector from a coupled position to a detached position, the lever 3 is turned to an opposite direction shown by an arrow D. At this time, since the female connector housing is rotatably coupled to the male connector housing at the center portion thereof, the female connector housing is often detached from the male connector housing while the former is slanted in the right or left side. For example, in a lever type connector shown in FIG. 12, a number of terminals are mounted. In particular, there is a hybrid type connector having many terminals 5 for an electrical power supply and many terminals 6 for a signal transmission. Since many signal terminals 6 having a low extraction resistance are disposed at the right side in FIG. 12 and many power terminals 5 having a high extraction resistance are disposed at the left side in the drawing, the extraction resistances are imbalanced.
The female connector housing 2 is detached by this imbalance of the extraction resistance while being slanted as shown in FIG. 12. Consequently, the female connector housing 2 is greatly inclined during detachment as shown in FIG. 12, the extraction resistance between the male terminals and the female terminals is increased and the lever 3 is hard or impossible to be turned. Further, if the lever is forced to be turned, the male terminals will be broken. In the case that the signal terminals 6 are shorter than the power terminals 5, the signal terminals 6 are extracted from the female terminals before the power terminals are extracted even if the extraction resistances are the same. Then, the extraction resistance is applied to only the power terminals 5, thereby causing imbalance of the extraction resistance.
Also, the lever type connector is sometimes displaced in a narrow space such as an inner deep space in an automobile compartment into which a worker can insert his or her hand with difficulty. Accordingly, it is desirable to temporarily lock the female connector housing 2 on the male connector housing 1 with the female connector housing 2 being detached from the male connector housing 1 in order to couple and detach the housing with one hand. Heretofore, when the cam follower boss 4a is inserted into the cam groove 3a, the boss 4a is temporarily locked in a temporarily locked portion in the cam groove 3a.
There are many large size connectors having a number of terminals in the lever type connector. Workers have been required to have the skill to correctly arrange the fitting portion 2a in the hood la when inserting the female connector housing 2 into the male connector housing 1. In addition, in the case that the connector is disposed in a narrow space where the worker can operate with only one hand, the above correct insertion will be more difficult. The lever type connector is coupled and detached around the cam follower boss 4a as a fulcrum shown in FIGS. 11A to 11D. If the female connector housing 2 is inserted into the housing 1 with the former being slanted, for example, in the left side in FIG. 12, the temporary lock portion in the cam groove 3a can not correct a posture of the housing 2.
When the lever 3 is turned in the slanted temporarily locked position, the lever 3 can hardly move on the housing 1 on account of the insertion resistance of both terminals. When the housing 2 is forced to be coupled to the housing 1, the terminals are incompletely interconnected, thereby causing a wrong contact and the like. Particularly, when the lever 3 is turned from the detached position to the coupled position, the worker will likely mistake that the connector housings are completely coupled even if they are incompletely coupled in the lever type connector. It has been desired heretofore to solve this problem.